Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Lesotho
Lesotho: Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary was 0.9047 GPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
0.9047 GPIA
Change on year
up 0.1%
World rank
86th
of 171 countries
All-time high
0.9047 GPIA
in 2024
All-time low
0.5037 GPIA
in 1982
Years of data
43
1973–2024
Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Lesotho, 1973–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
The most recent figure for out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Lesotho is 0.9047 GPIA, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 43 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 16.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Lesotho peaked at 0.9047 GPIA in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.5037 GPIA, in 1982.
That places Lesotho 86th out of 171 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 43 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Lesotho, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 0.5927 GPIA | — |
| 1977 | 0.5545 GPIA | -6.4% |
| 1978 | 0.5152 GPIA | -7.1% |
| 1979 | 0.5048 GPIA | -2.0% |
| 1980 | 0.5061 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 0.5162 GPIA | +2.0% |
| 1982 | 0.5037 GPIA | -2.4% |
| 1983 | 0.5206 GPIA | +3.4% |
| 1984 | 0.55 GPIA | +5.6% |
| 1985 | 0.5405 GPIA | -1.7% |
| 1986 | 0.5622 GPIA | +4.0% |
| 1991 | 0.5817 GPIA | +3.5% |
| 1992 | 0.6315 GPIA | +8.6% |
| 1993 | 0.6952 GPIA | +10.1% |
| 1994 | 0.7151 GPIA | +2.9% |
| 1996 | 0.7579 GPIA | +6.0% |
| 1998 | 0.7998 GPIA | +5.5% |
| 1999 | 0.8103 GPIA | +1.3% |
| 2000 | 0.8248 GPIA | +1.8% |
| 2001 | 0.8376 GPIA | +1.6% |
| 2002 | 0.8327 GPIA | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 0.8054 GPIA | -3.3% |
| 2004 | 0.8212 GPIA | +2.0% |
| 2005 | 0.8041 GPIA | -2.1% |
| 2006 | 0.785 GPIA | -2.4% |
| 2007 | 0.8195 GPIA | +4.4% |
| 2008 | 0.7933 GPIA | -3.2% |
| 2009 | 0.7397 GPIA | -6.8% |
| 2010 | 0.744 GPIA | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 0.7581 GPIA | +1.9% |
| 2012 | 0.7628 GPIA | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 0.764 GPIA | +0.2% |
| 2014 | 0.7751 GPIA | +1.5% |
| 2015 | 0.7988 GPIA | +3.1% |
| 2016 | 0.796 GPIA | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 0.8049 GPIA | +1.1% |
| 2018 | 0.8416 GPIA | +4.6% |
| 2019 | 0.779 GPIA | -7.4% |
| 2020 | 0.8705 GPIA | +11.7% |
| 2021 | 0.8831 GPIA | +1.5% |
| 2022 | 0.892 GPIA | +1.0% |
| 2023 | 0.9039 GPIA | +1.3% |
| 2024 | 0.9047 GPIA | +0.1% |
Lesotho compared with similar countries
- Lesotho's 0.9047 GPIA is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.9364 GPIA, 97% of the median. (35 countries reporting)
- Lesotho's 0.9047 GPIA is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.9304 GPIA, 97% of the median. (34 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.5418 GPIA | 0.5048 GPIA | 0.5927 GPIA | 4 |
| 1980s | 0.5285 GPIA | 0.5037 GPIA | 0.5622 GPIA | 7 |
| 1990s | 0.7131 GPIA | 0.5817 GPIA | 0.8103 GPIA | 7 |
| 2000s | 0.8063 GPIA | 0.7397 GPIA | 0.8376 GPIA | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.7824 GPIA | 0.744 GPIA | 0.8416 GPIA | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8908 GPIA | 0.8705 GPIA | 0.9047 GPIA | 5 |
Countries ranked near Lesotho
More education data for Lesotho
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 5,672 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 30,627 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 22,924 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 23,698 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 136,497 (2017)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 309,480 (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.8093 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1324 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Lesotho?
- Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary in Lesotho was 0.9047 GPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary recorded in Lesotho?
- The highest recorded value was 0.9047 GPIA in 2024.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary recorded in Lesotho?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.5037 GPIA in 1982.
- How does Lesotho rank for out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary?
- Lesotho ranks 86th out of 171 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary rising or falling in Lesotho?
- Over the last ten years it is up 16.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Lesotho data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for children, adolescents and youth of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school age, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 43 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release